More than a foot of snow is expected on Colorado’s highest mountain peaks by Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
The Park Range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains will see between 6 and 15 inches on average, with roughly 20 inches possible in some areas, according to the weather service. As of Wednesday morning, weather service snow forecasts through 5 a.m. Saturday included up to:
- A trace of snow in the Denver and Boulder areas
- 3 inches at Eldora
- 5 inches in Winter Park
- 6 inches on Colorado 125’s Willow Creek Pass near Granby and Colorado 9’s Hoosier Pass near Breckenridge
- 8 inches on U.S. 6’s Loveland Pass, U.S. 40’s Muddy Pass near Kremmling and U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass near Winter Park
- 9 inches at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park and on Interstate 70’s Vail Pass
- 10 inches on U.S. 34’s Milner Pass in RMNP
- 11 inches on Colorado 14’s Cameron Pass near Fort Collins
- 23 inches on Mount Zirkel, the highest summit of the Park Range
A winter storm warning will be in effect for the Park Range until 11 a.m. Thursday, warning of “difficult to impossible” travel, according to the weather service. The area will also be under an avalanche watch from Wednesday night to Thursday evening.
“Heavy snow and wind, drifting snow, will create dangerous avalanche conditions,” the watch stated. “Large and dangerous avalanches will be easy to trigger once the new snow accumulates. Avalanches will run naturally.”
A separate winter weather advisory was issued for the Front Range mountains at 6 a.m. Wednesday, which will continue through noon Thursday.
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